Reese Witherspoon pleads no contest, Jim Toth pleads guilty

By Christie DZurilla

Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth reportedly owned up to their errors Thursday, pleading no contest (her) and guilty (him) to physical obstruction of another and DUI, respectively. In doing so, they tied a bow on the mess that arose from their April 19 arrests in Atlanta.

We're talking about the arrests that involved the Oscar winner playing the celebrity card, asking the trooper, "Do you know my name?" and telling him, "You’re about to find out who I am.... You are going to be on national news."

News of the pleas came Thursday afternoon via TMZ, which noted that Toth — who was present in court — will do no jail time, owe 40 hours of community service and go through an alcohol-education program, in addition to being on probation for a year. Witherspoon, who wasn't there and was originally arrested on suspicion of disorderly conduct, will pay a $213 fine.

Witherspoon was spending her day instead in New York, doing a mea culpa with George Stephanopoulos on "Good Morning America" while also promoting her new movie, "Mud."

"We went out to a restaurant in Atlanta, and we had one too many glasses of wine," the 37-year-old mother of three explained. "We thought we were fine to drive and we were absolutely not, and we are so sorry and just so embarrassed.

"We know better and we shouldn't have done that."

She said she and her husband were embarrassed to tell their older kids they'd been arrested, but that they were telling them, "When you make a mistake, you take responsibility, and we are taking responsibility and doing everything in your power to make it right."

So that's the lessson for the kids. But, other than call a cab when you need one, what about the lesson for mom?

"When a police officer tells you to stay in the car, you stay in the car," she said with a smile. "I learned that for sure."

Nearly two weeks since she was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after a boozy confrontation with an Atlanta police officer and after canceling a spate of promotional appearances timed to her new film "Mud," Reese Witherspoon sat for her first post-arrest interview Thursday on “Good...